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Keeping Records Safe

When a natural disaster strikes, your first priority is to keep your family safe from harm. But that doesn’t mean you can afford to overlook your most important documents and records. Almost any natural disaster has the potential to ruin or destroy things like medical and financial records. Many of your most critical documents cannot be easily replaced, and after a disaster is when you might need them most! Follow the easy steps in this guide to secure your irreplaceables today, and be prepared for any situation in the future.

GATHER

The first step is to collect all of the items you will need to protect. Try to think of items that would be difficult to replace, or that you might need after an emergency. Here’s a handy checklist to help you out:

Physical Items

SECURE

Once you have gathered your documents and other items, you have a few choices for how to safely store them. The most secure method is to produce copies of your documents. Then store each set of copies in a different location. For instance, at home, you should store records in a fireproof and waterproof box or safe. You could also place a copy in a safety deposit box at a bank. Or you could even send a set of copies to a friend or relative in another city for safekeeping. The more copies you have, the more likely your records will survive a disaster. You should also consider where your records are being kept. If you live in a flood zone or coastal area prone to hurricanes, you should move documents out of a basement to prevent water damage. One last thing to consider, you might want to consider creating digital backups of your records as well. You can scan your documents and save the files to a USB thumb drive, external hard drive, or even back them up to an online service. For more information about creating electronic copies of your documents, check out this article by Bankrate.com: Storing financial files digitally

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Protecting your Important Documents: A practical guide to keeping your records safe from disaster When a natural disaster strikes, your first priority is to keep your family safe from harm. But that doesn’t mean you can afford to overlook your most important documents and records. Almost any natural disaster has the potential to ruin or destroy […]

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